Sunday, January 15, 2017

Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson

Life and
Times of Persimmon Wilson by Nancy Peacock

Persy knows he is
going to die in two days. Outside his cell he can hear his scaffold being
built. In his remaining two days he wants to tell his story, his side of it, he
doesn’t know if anyone will read it but in the telling, he needs to know that
by reliving it he can justify his existence.

Persy begins his
story in 1860 on the auction block where he meets his soon to be master and
Chloe.Both Persy and Chloe are purchase
and taken to Master Wilson’s sugar cane plantation where Persy is set to the
fields to cut cane from “can see to can’t see” and Chloe is made a companion to
Master Wilson’s sickly wife.Because of circumstances
when they were purchased, Persy dedicates his life to looking out for Chloe.Life cutting cane isn’t tortuous but the idea
that sometimes he actually gets to meet up with Chloe keeps him alive.

Just before the Union Army takes New Orleans Wilson quickly
abandons his plantation and the slaves that haven’t escaped in the confusion, and
heads for Texas.In a jealous fit,
Wilson shoots Persy, leaving him for dead, and takes Chloe for his.She is light skinned and can pass for white
so he introduces her in Texas as his wife.

Persy survives the attempt on his life and sets out to find
Chloe, putting in motion his years wandering the Texas wilderness, making new
friendships, learning new skills. He is
captured by the Comanche, where he discovers he will be judged solely on his
bravery, skills and loyalty and he comes to embrace life as a Comanche where he
comes to be respected and accepted as a person, not as a black man who would
never be able to live as a free man. But
always, he looks for Chloe.

Reading this I wondered just how much more a person could
take but Persy’s enduring drive to do what was needed to rescue his love and
keep a promise is a testament to loyalty.